Retrofitting Tab at County Hospitals Over $156 Million

0

Retrofitting Tab at County Hospitals Over $156 Million

Health Care

by Laurence Darmiento

As if it weren’t bad enough that Los Angeles County faces a $700 million annual deficit in its health department operations, the cost of seismically retrofitting its hospitals is now coming in.

And it’s hefty. The county estimates it will cost $156 million to bring just four of its hospitals up to code under SB 1953, the state law inspired by the Northridge earthquake that requires hospitals to withstand a major temblor without collapsing.

The $156 million would cover the cost of strengthening Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, High Desert Hospital, Martin Luther King, Jr./Drew Medical Center and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center.

What it doesn’t include is the cost for Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, which is being rebuilt for $818 million, or Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitative Center. The county recently decided to build a new inpatient facility rather than retrofit that hospital.

The retrofit costs run from $21 million for High Desert to $68 million for MLK. For that money, the county will get facilities that can legally operate until 2030, when even tougher codes kick in.

ER Closure

When Tenet Healthcare Corp. announced last month that it was shutting down St. Luke Medical Center in Pasadena, the company gave the legally required 90-day notice for closing its emergency room, setting April 10 as the date.

Now, in a lesson of how physicians react to such news, the closure of the hospital’s emergency room has been pushed up to Feb. 11.

The hospital has to close down sooner than expected after its anesthesiology medical group exercised a cancellation clause in its contract that it would pull out in 30 days. “Without an anesthesiologist you really can’t do any procedure,” said David Langness, a Tenet spokesman.

Physician groups have little interest in practicing on a sinking ship, especially when there are other hospitals in the West San Gabriel Valley where they can treat their patients.

Virginia Hastings, the county’s director of emergency services, said St. Luke could possibly close the emergency room even sooner than Feb. 11 since the hospital is now having trouble maintaining its physician panels, the doctors who agree to be on call to treat patients at the hospital, especially emergency admissions.

Tenet is seeking a buyer for the property.

Wellpoint on the Move

Wellpoint Health Networks Inc., which has been aggressively pursuing expansion, closed out January with a swirl of activity.

The Thousand Oaks-based insurer last week was finalizing its $1.3 billion merger with RightCHOICE Managed Care Inc. after the majority owner of the Missouri health plan voted in favor of it.

The Missouri Foundation for Health, representing 57 percent of the outstanding shares of RightChoice, approved the merger.

Wellpoint also reached a deal to acquire MethodistCare, a subsidiary of Methodist Health Care System in Houston.

Staff reporter Laurence Darmiento can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 237 or at

[email protected].

No posts to display